Olatu-kanal baten balioztatze esperimentala eta konputazionala

Abstract

A wave flume of 12.5 x 0.6 x 0.7 m (length x width x height) able to reproduce the ocean conditions of the most representative research facilities in the Basque Country (BiMEP-Biscay Marine Energy Platform and Mutriku Wave Energy Plant) has been installed at the laboratory of Fluid Mechanics of the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao. This new facility has the capacity of producing a wide range of monochromatic and panchromatic waves by a piston-type wavemaker. Several ultrasonic wave probes measure the surface elevation, and the wave energy is dissipated in a passive parabolic beach in order to diminish significantly the reflection along the flume. A numerical model based on Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations has been developed to represent the turbulence and Eulerian Volume of Fluid (VOF) unsteady approach in STAR-CCM+ CFD code to track the evolution of the free surface. This numerical model has been validated with the corresponding experimental campaign covering a wide range of depths, wave heights, wavelengths and periods. The results are analysed together with the analytical solution coming from the potential flow theory. The experiments carried out in the present work establish the operational limits of the wave flume in terms of wave generation, propagation and extinction, defining the operational range of future experimental and computational campaigns where wave interaction with floating structures, wave energy converters and mooring systems will be studied.